The Awakening
by ribby97
Summary: In a darker world than the one you know of, where survival is everything and pokémon are dangerous monsters, Ash is given a mission . A new invention, the Pokédex, has the potential to save the lives of many. But to make it work, Ash must now complete a perilous journey. As if that weren't enough, Kanto is on the cusp of an event that will change the world: and not for the better.
1. To Set the Ball Rolling

**Here goes...**

* * *

Chapter 1: To Set the Ball Rolling

Ash and Pikachu lay silent in the grass. Between them not a sound was made, other than their slow breathing. Through the brambles and bushes, Ash could see their target, a lone Pidgey, searching for seeds in a small clearing.

As he carefully closed the distance between himself and his prey, Ash dipped his spear, signalling to his pokémon to keep low. The electric rodent, which had been leaning forwards in anticipation, silently shot Ash an apology for his mistake, and withdrew back into the ferns as his master advanced on the oblivious Pidgey. The small bird suddenly ceased its constant pecking for food and looked up, its sharp eyes scanning the bushes where its two undiscovered assailants hid. Ash tried to stay completely still.

The tiny, dull brown pokémon showed no signs of settling again and Ash, sweat dripping from his forehead, eventually decided that his chances were only getting worse with time. After checking to make sure his backpack wasn't caught on anything, he darted forward and, in one smooth movement, lunged with his spear. The Pidgey gave a shrill squawk of surprise as the head of the spear plunged into its neck. Then it twitched briefly before falling still and silent, fully impaled by Ash's weapon. Ash raised his arm and, by extension, the spear and Pidgey, and began to examine his kill.

He and his Pikachu had been working together ever since Ash was nine. Now, seven years later, they made a truly formidable team and were especially skilled at hunting the local pokémon, a skill that they were able to put to good use in Pallet Town, where food was far harder to come by than in the larger cities. When the duo was sent hunting for food Ash was usually the one to perform the kill itself whilst Pikachu stood guard and took the role of his protector. This wasn't due to any weakness in Pikachu, who wasn't afraid of killing another pokémon when neccessary, it was just that most people preferred to eat a dinner that hadn't been charred black by lightning bolts. A pidgey, though bland, tasted infinitely better than a burnt pidgey.

A rustling sound caused Ash to pause in his inspection, and hesitantly look around. The woods around Pallet Town were only sparsely populated with trees, but the foliage at low level was dense and compact, problematic when your main occupation involved quietly sneaking up on things. It was perfect for a Rattata or Pidgey, the more common pokémon in the area, to hide in however.

"Pika, pika!"

Ash recognised the alarm in Pikachu's cry and instinctively rolled into a nearby bush, his quarry forgotten, as a huge group of Rattata surged past. The sheer number of rats running gave the swarm the appearance of a violet river, as though the pokémon were one vast, liquid entity, and the overall affect was stunning.

Ash had no time to admire the sight however as he was fully occupied with trying to wrestle off one of the pokémon which had detached itself from the group and was viciously sinking its claws, and attempting to sink its teeth, into his chest. He fell onto his back and put all of his effort into slowly prying the Rattata off of him. The creature hissed savagely as it thrashed around, trying to loosen Ash's grip. He now had the upper-hand however. As the fairly weak, but extremely determined creature gradually came loose, it tore bloody scratches into Ash's skin and he clenched his teeth in pain.

Pikachu watched the struggle anxiously but found to his anger that he was completely unable to help. A lightning bolt wouldn't be precise enough not to hurt Ash and he was cut off from the battle by the stampede of purple rats that would surely tear him to pieces if he was brash enough to attempt a crossing. He met and matched the glare of hundreds of red eyes and sparks flew from his cheeks as he glowered at the horde. In his opinion anyone or anything that tried to prevent him from protecting his trainer was an enemy. For a species that was normally shy or, at the very least, docile, Pikachu was very protective of his master.

At that moment Ash managed to dislodge his attacker, twisting his body as he span the Rattata into the air above the swarm. The thrown pokémon came into the sight of Pikachu and an ear-splitting crack rang out, as a deafening bolt of lightning instantly reduced the aggressive Rattata to a smouldering corpse. The sudden noise seemed to break whatever spell had fallen over the Rattata, and they quickly dispersed in all directions. One or two converged around Pikachu and hissed at him, but a few small shocks of static left over from his original attack and a returning hiss were enough to send them hurriedly on their way.

Ash and Pikachu quickly regrouped and shared a brief, relieved embrace.

Noticing that he was bleeding, and realizing that there was a risk of infection from the Rattata's scratch-marks, Ash took a small first-aid kit from his backpack. He pulled out a small bottle of a clear solution and a roll of bandage. Tearing off a strip, he poured a little of the contents of the bottle onto the fabric, before wrapping it around the wound. Once these minor injuries had been taken care of, Ash paused to survey his surroundings...

An unnatural swath had been cleared through the ferns, as though half a dozen Caterpie had wreaked havoc on the landscape. Cleared land went on as far as the eye could see. It seemed possible that it led all the way back to Viridian City. Ash was dismayed to see his spear lying in the dirt, the sharp metal spearhead nowhere to be found, and the wooden shaft of the weapon snapped in half. Even the dead Pidgey had been stripped to the bone. He sighed deeply. Pikachu seemed to share his dismay: Their whole trip had been for nothing.

"Well," Ash exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood a little. "That was strange, eh Pikachu? I wonder what could have caused those pokémon to form a group like that." Pikachu echoed his trainer's confusion and Ash decided that the best course of action would be to head back to town and report the incident. He wasn't looking forward to explaining how his weapon had been broken, the others would surely laugh if they thought that mere Rattata had caused him so much trouble.

* * *

Pallet Town was not really a town. In fact it could barely be called a village. The best word Ash could think of to describe it would be a camp, or rather, three separate camps. There were very few permanent structures and most people lived in large tents. Thus, Pallet Town didn't stay in one place for very long but instead each camp revolved slowly around the few permanent structures that did exist, in the very centre of which lay the most important and largest building in the town: the laboratory.

This lab was owned by Professor Oak: the town's founder and Ash's mentor. He was an expert on many species of pokémon and he had devoted his entire life to learning more about these creatures and how to keep people safe from them. He was also something of an artist, hence the name of the town. Ash could remember how, as a child, he used to adore looking through Oak's colourful field guides and, in more recent years, reading them as well. Ash lived quite close to the professor as he was fortunate enough to reside in a fixed structure and it wasn't uncommon to find Ash at the lab talking to Professor Oak, who was almost like a father to him. He'd learnt a great deal about the more common species of pokémon from the professor.

This was all because Ash's mother was the town's healer and therefore a prominent figure. Ash's house was also a makeshift hospital and contained several sick or injured patients at any one time, both pokémon and human. Ash respected the effort him mother put into her job, but she was horribly underequipped, and often the only thing she could do was to help a person to die as painlessly as possible. Sometimes he would wish that she didn't spend so much time at the hospital and could spend more time with him; then he'd feel horribly guilty as he thought about all the people she was trying to save.

Although Ash enjoyed better living conditions than many, he didn't get any special treatment just because of his mother's status and his friendship with Professor Oak. He had to report to the captain of his camp every morning, just like everybody else. This meant getting up very early and walking to the location of Red Camp for about an hour.

Pallet's camps had the important task of keeping the town afloat. They were in charge of organising the roles of the townspeople (such as hunters and foragers) as well as the distribution of food and weapons. They even ensured that everyone had at least a basic level of training in self-defence, and other important survival skills. Thus, Pallet Town was extraordinarily self-sufficient- a blessing because they had not much to offer the larger cities in the way of trade, and rarely heard from them anyway.

* * *

By the time Ash arrived at the camp dusk was falling and people were beginning to light fires. Out in the wilderness, fire was man's ally. It kept him warm, well-fed, safe and seeing. In Ash's opinion he had a fairly good excuse for his tardiness, but he had a feeling that Captain Timber wouldn't see things his way. It wasn't long before his fears were confirmed. The captain saw Ash and stormed over to him, his silver moustache bristling and his face purple with anger. He shot Ash a thundering scowl, which matched the stern expression of the Pidgeotto that perched on his shoulder.

''Where the _hell _have you been, Ketchum? You should have been back an hour ago! And what's this? No food and no weapon either by the look of things. You had better have a damn good explanation for this or so help me...'' The Captain finished his rant and bent his head a fraction, indication for Ash to speak.

''Captain, we were attacked by Rattatta!'' cried Ash. ''I lost my spear and prey during the fight.''

''A Rattatta?'' asked Captain Timber with a snort. "I'd expect this from a beginner, Ash, but you've dealt with them countless times in the past. I don't see how you let a Rattata get the better of you."

"It wasn't _a _Rattata!" retorted Ash hotly. "There were loads of them!"

The captain carefully listened to Ash's explanation of the exact circumstances of the attack without interrupting. Then, with a grimace, he said, ''You should go and talk to Professor Oak; he might be able to work out the reason for such strange behaviour."

**I've made several small changes based on people's reviews, so hopefully they've helped to smooth this chapter out a bit more. I've changed the opening to hopefully give you more of an idea of their surroundings. I hope you liked this and please give me your thoughts/suggestions. Anything you particularly liked/disliked? I'll make sure that I try to follow people's feeback to the best of my ability. Stay tuned for there'll be more to come fairly soon!**


	2. Off on the Right Foot

''I think it's time,'' said Professor Oak after he had heard Ash retell his story. They were just outside the laboratory, where Ash had found Oak training his Porygon to use physical attacks. The Porygon shimmered strangely in the moonlight.

''What are you talking about?'' asked Ash but, instead of responding, the professor swung open the doors of the lab and entered the building, his holographic blue pokémon floating after him and making Ash's hair prickle with static electricity as it brushed against him. Taken aback slightly by the old man's strange behaviour and the odd feeling of the virtual Porygon passing through him, Ash hesitated. Pikachu however didn't share his qualms and Ash, seeing his friend's impatience and not wishing to look like a coward, entered the laboratory.

* * *

Ash looked around the lab's dark interior but couldn't see any signs of his mentor. There was a strange acrid smoke hanging in the air as though the professor had recently been experimenting with chemicals and the lab was even more cluttered and disorganised than normal. Just as Ash was growing accustomed to the gloom the lights started to flicker on and he had to blink a couple of times to allow his eyes to adjust to the change. As usual, Pikachu was completely fascinated by the flashing lights and spinning dials that were connected to various electronic constructions made of scavenged Ancient technology. Ash looked at the makeshift machines, blackened metal, rusty pipes and ragged wires welded into a seemingly worthless mess, and wondered if anyone but the professor would've been able to tell him what they were for.

If he didn't know better Ash would have assumed that the lab was owned by a madman. On the contrary, Kanto was the most scientifically advanced country in the modern world and it was fair to say that Professor Oak was at the frontier of its technological progress: He was perhaps the world's greatest pokémon expert. Oak was, amongst other things, the creator of the greatball and ultraball: devices that allowed very powerful pokémon to be stored more easily. He'd even been part of the group of scientists that had built the first computer- after countless hours were spent researching Ancient technology in time-ravaged tomes.

''Hello?'' Ash shouted and shivered as his voice echoed around the room. He saw that a door at the end of the room that usually remained locked was open, and walked towards it. As he approached the door a white neon sign lit up above it displaying the flickering word 'storage', before winking out again. Pikachu and Ash entered a small room containing dozens of dusty cardboard boxes, stacked up in the centre. Out of curiosity Ash picked up one of the smallest boxes and turned it over in order to read the label on the lid. When he realized that it contained a thunderstone he carefully placed it in the centre of the pile, as though it might explode at any minute if treated roughly. Ash knew that his stubborn pokémon had no desire to evolve, the same way he absolutely refused to enter a pokéball, and Ash definitely did not want to accidentally end up with an enraged Raichu.

Just at that moment Pikachu noticed a disturbance on the other side of the boxes and, quietly, pointed it out to Ash. The boxes began to shake and suddenly Professor Oak emerged, beaming triumphantly.

"Here it is!'' cried the professor, beaming at Ash. ''I thought I might have lost it for a second." He looked around, as if taking in his surroundings for the first time. "Sorry about the mess back here, by the way.''

"What are you talking about? What's going on?'' asked Ash, sounding rather more irritable than he had intended to. His day had been both tiring and tiresome.

Professor Oak regarded Ash with reproach. ''This ,'' he said, holding up a red, rectangular, metal device with a large screen, "is a Pokédex. ''At the moment most of the technology I've packed into this is unusable. It's basically just an electronic field guide, something that you could record your observations when you're out in the field." He paused to make sure that Ash was listening.

"But?" prompted Ash.

"_But,_ it's capable of much more than that. Bill, a colleague of mine, lives in Cerulean City. I worked with him on the design for this device and he's just finished creating a chip that, once added to the Pokédex, will allow you to scan the DNA of any pokémon that you find. It should be able to tell you all sorts of information, such as the strengths and weaknesses of each pokémon, as well as any special abilities that that pokémon has. To be perfectly honest, we're not sure of its exact capabilities- but that's where you come in!" He paused, trying to gauge Ash's reaction. "So," he said finally. "What do you think?"

Ash frowned. "It sounds incredible, Professor, but I really don't see what any of this has got to do with me." If it had been anyone but Professor Oak describing such an extraordinary device, he would have laughed at them. He knew better than to be sceptical about one of Oak's inventions however: Who knew what the man was capable of?

"You don't?" Professor Oak sounded surprised. "I was hoping that you'd agree to take the Pokédex to Bill."

At first Ash assumed that the professor was joking, but his expression was serious. He blinked in surprise. "Me? I'd never make it all the way to Cerulean City; I'd be dead before I even got to Viridian!"

''You're underestimating yourself, as usual," Professor Oak chuckled. "Your work with me has shown how resourceful and determined you are. You're more capable than most of surviving in the wilderness. I dare say you have a better chance of making it than I have." Noticing Ash's snort of disbelief he continued. "I'm not kidding! There used to be a time when I could have done this sort of thing myself, but I'm getting too old for travel to be safe, and I have every confidence in your ability."

Ash blushed a little, embarrassed by the flattery. "I just wish I felt better prepared for this," he said, nervously. "I feel like there's so much more to learn before I'm ready. I'm sure I don't know half as much about pokémon as I ought to, and Pikachu and I haven't really practiced many battle strategies."

Oak sighed. "Listen, Ash. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how much you train, or how much you learn. It's one thing to come up with a fighting plan, but in a real battle you'll rarely find that you have the opportunity to use it. Of course, that's not to say that your training with Red Camp won't come in handy, but surviving in the wilderness is more about thinking on your feet than learning special moves. That's something that comes with experience. You can't train at it and you can't learn it in a field guide." He smiled. "But with experience and a little luck, I think you have the potential to become a trainer every bit as powerful as I once was." He paused. "So what do you say? Are you up for this?"

Reassured, Ash grinned. "Of course I am!" For the first time it really sunk in that he was going to become a trainer and he felt sudden elation. "So... When do I start?"

"As soon as you're ready." The professor smiled at Ash's eagerness. "You'll have no trouble deciding what supplies to pack or with obtaining them, I'm sure. If you hold on a moment though, I've got a few extras that might come in handy. Here, hold this for me." He handed Ash the Pokédex.

Ash took the red, book-sized object and waited as Oak rummaged around some more. Ash turned to see if Pikachu had been listening to them talk. By the excited look on the little rodent's face it was evident that he had.

''You'll definitely need these once your outside of Pallet Town,'' said Professor Oak, turning around to hand Ash five pokéballs which he clipped onto his belt. ''Maybe you'll even be able to persuade your next pokémon to use them.'' He laughed as Pikachu caught the well-meaning jibe.

''Pika, Pikachu.'' he snapped, causing Professor Oak to grin in amusement.

''You're going to need a new weapon as well,'' said the professor. ''I don't think our armoury is in any shape to provide you with a spare at such short notice, so you'll have to have this.'' As he spoke he took a long, steel knife from its scabbard and held it out to Ash with the ivory handle facing him.

''Are you sure?'' Ash asked earnestly. ''I don't want to leave you defenceless''

''Oh, don't worry about _me, _I'll be fine. You're going to need more than just Pikachu to defend you outside of Pallet. Besides, my pokémon are the only protection I need these days, I rarely use a weapon myself.'' He patted the pokéballs around his waist which held Blastoise, Venosaur and Charizard. ''You'll need some armour too at some point, but sadly I don't have anything that would fit you. That does lead remind me though. When I talked to Delia about the task I had in mind for you she gave me this to pass on to you, just in case she didn't see you before you left. Hopefully when you get to Viridian you'll find someone to sell it to, and that'll help you with buying armour, as well as resupplying for the next stage in your journey.'' As he said this he handed Ash a small, but very valuable, golden nugget.

Ash held it up in his palm, fascinated by how beautifully it caught the light. "Wow... Wait a second? So you've spoken to my mum about this?" It had occurred to him that it might be difficult to get her permission for him to leave.

"Well naturally. I went round as soon as I received word from Bill. I thought I might have a better chance of convincing her than you would," he said, smiling. "It took a lot of persuasion, but I finally cleared it with her. She's even okay with you leaving tomorrow! Which remind me, he added. "Under no circumstances are you to die on this expedition! Your mother would never forgive me!"

Ash gave a mock salute, then, after telling Professor Oak that he'd head over in the morning before he set off, left for home. It had been night when he'd arrived at the lab, and the day had been packed with activity, so sleep came to him quickly.

* * *

Ash woke that morning feeling refreshed, despite his late night. He stared at the beautiful framed map, the only decoration on his otherwise plain bedroom wall, and thought about all the places that he'd thought he would never get to see. Viridian...Vermillion...Saffron: Until now they'd just been meaningless names on a map, but now they were actual cities, cities he would be able to visit. He felt like a prisoner on the day of his release.

As a Pidgey's cry ripped through Ash's daydream he suddenly found himself wondering if he would ever get to sleep in his own bed again. Would he even _want_ to return once he was out there, with the whole of Kanto to explore?

Pushing these unpleasant thoughts to the back of his mind, Ash bent down to wake his pokémon. Pikachu refused to stir however and, despite Ash's persistence, the only response he got was a low growl of irritation. After about a minute, Ash decided to give up.

"Fine, have it your way, you spoilt slob," Ash laughed, as Pikachu emerged briefly and stuck his tongue out, before cringing at the sunlight streaming between the blinds and diving back under his blanket. "I need to go say my goodbyes, I guess it wouldn't do any harm to let you celebrate with one final lie-in, eh?" Ash smiled as the blanket gave the distinct impression that it was attempting to nod.

* * *

Quarter of an hour later, Ash was ready to leave. He then realized that he hadn't seen his mother yet and needed to say goodbye to her, just in case he didn't have the opportunity later.

''Mum, I'm off now!'' he yelled cheerily, trying to act as if his leaving wasn't a big deal. Upon hearing no response he called again, then started to look for her. Pinned to the front door he found a brief note. In its entirety it read: 'Gone to Yellow Camp- urgent business (sorry), Mum '.

Reading the note, Ash suddenly found himself incredibly angry. His mother never had time for him, and Ash sometimes wondered if she cared about him at all. She could have at least woken him up to say goodbye! Bitterly, he remembered the professor's words "_She's even okay with you leaving tomorrow!" _It was almost as if she wanted him to leave. As he thought this, Ash was aware that this simply wasn't true. He was being completely unfair and probably extremely selfish. This feeling only served to fuel his rage, however. Ash needed a way to vent his anger and, after opening the door and stepping outside, slammed it shut with all his might. To let off even more steam he sprinted all the way to the laboratory, by which point his anger had faded and he felt only sadness, sadness that his mother wasn't going to be there to see him go.

* * *

''Ash? Ash, did you get that?''

Ash blinked as Professor Oak waved his hand in front of his face. ''Huh?''

Professor Oak sighed, ''Are you alright Ash?''

Ash started and came to his senses. ''Oh, sorry! No I'm fine, just... Tired. Would you mind repeating that?''

The professor looked unconvinced but didn't press the matter. ''Sure, I was just asking if there's any other way I could help you? Anything you need, or anything you need to know?" The previous night, he had been all smiles and jokes, but now he seemed far more serious, almost grave.

"Actually, yeah," said Ash, "It occurred to me, once I find Bill, what's the next step? What happens after I've given him the Pokédex?"

"Well, I suppose what _you_ is up to you really. You could head straight back, or you might find something else to keep you busy whilst you're out there. Either way, Bill will handle the rest of the business with the Pokédex. He's got a large collection of pokémon, so he'll be able to make more progress than you. Our long-term plan is to put together a sort of ultimate guide, containing all of the pokémon in the region. If that sort of information becomes widespread, well, imagine what good it could do!"

"I see. I thought this seemed quite a lot of work to put into something that's just a glorified field guide, but that makes a lot of sense. A trainer would have a much better chance of fending off wild pokémon if he knew more about what was attacking him."

Professor Oak nodded. "Yes, that's true, but we might be able to do more than just that. Think about it; how many people know how to avoid a Diglet's trap, or how to tell when a Magikarp is close to evolving, or when a Voltorb is about to explode? Most people only know about the pokémon they encounter frequently, such as those they train. If we pull this off, so many lives might be saved!

"Good to know that this a worthy cause," said Ash smiling.

"I suppose I'd better say goodbye then," said Professor Oak slightly sadly. "Good luck Ash, I'm sure you'll make a brilliant trainer." He stepped closer to Ash and they embraced.

"Thanks, Professor."

"You'd best be off then. If you leave soon, you'll hopefully only have to spend a night on the road. It isn't that far to Viridian City so hopefully, you shouldn't run into much trouble. Don't let that stop you from being cautious though. And remember: constant vigilance..."

"Prolongs lives," Ash said with a laugh, completing the phrase: a running joke between the two that neither could remember the origin of.

Still grinning, Ash walked back to his house to finish packing. After waking the dozing Pikachu and explaining that they were about to leave, the small electric pokémon scurried downstairs and returned dragging a large packet of food in his mouth. Ash ignored him and continued trying to stuff his bedroll into one of his bag's compartments. Pikachu harrumphed and began to nudge Ash. Ash turned round and laughed to see that Pikachu's priority was still his stomach.

"No, Pikachu, I've already packed our rations." He patted his bag and then pulled out a corner of a clear plastic bag containing a similar amount of food. Pikachu saw the bag and nodded once before continuing as before. Ash turned again and frowned. "Listen, if _you_ want to carry that bag then we'll take it. If not then you'll have to make do with what I've already packed." Pikachu mewled plaintively but Ash had set down his terms and wasn't going to budge.

Another half an hour and they were ready to go. Ash hummed happily to himself as he set foot on Route 1 for the first time, Pikachu perched on his shoulder. He was ready for anything the world could throw at him.

* * *

**I'm in the process of a major overhaul atm. I've rewritten the majority of this chapter and I think that it makes a noticeable improvement- some of it was just, ugh, so very terrible. Oh and please review! Whilst it's fun watching the view count ticking up it would be AMAZING to hear your opinions. (I know I sound like exactly the sort of overexcited writer that can't take concrit but honestly I'm not :P. Any advice you can offer me would be extremely helpful, especially if it helps improve my writing.)**

**You might have noticed that that last sentence fits with other dangerous sayings such as "What could possibly go wrong?" or "At least it's not raining!"**

**Stay tuned, as the intro's over now, so the fun can really begin**


	3. Birds of a Feather

**A big thankyou to JadedPhoenixBurning whose review contained many useful ways for me to improve my story. Anyway here's the third chapter and it's starting to have some more action...**

The road to Viridian City was long and winding, seeming to twist and turn erratically. It even felt as though it was doubling back on itself at one point. After a few hours of feeling unsure about the route Ash decided that the only way to cope would be to trust that the path would take him the right way eventually.

Ash and Pikachu moved cautiously, Ash remembering the wise words of warning that his teacher had given him and Pikachu following his trainer's lead. They made slow progress, but they each felt that it was worth it if prevented anything from attacking them by surprise. They walked in silence, Pikachu having abandoned his station on top of Ash's shoulder in favour of the more stable path.

They walked for the first couple of days without incident. Ash was, in all honesty, very surprised about this. He had expected the wild to be teeming with life but, other than a couple of Rattata as they were leaving Pallet, they hadn't seen a single thing. The only thing wrong with the world was that the weather seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. The clouds above were darkening, and Ash realized that they risked being caught out in a storm. As the afternoon dragged on the remarkable quiet began to unsettle Ash and he felt as though he needed a way to break the silence. Another few paces and the problem was solved for him.

A shrieking cry pierced the air and Pikachu jumped up onto its hind legs as a Spearow emerged from the bushes nearby and took flight, soaring towards Ash's only pokémon. Pikachu dived for cover as the bird pokémon soared towards him, lashing out with barbed talons. Pikachu retaliated with a hurried thundershock, the inaccurate attack missing by at least a foot.

"Pikachu, we're aiming to stun, not kill! Try a thunderwave!" cried Ash, pulling out his knife, ready to use it if he had to.

Pikachu crouched, his cheeks crackling with electricity as he prepared the thunderwave attack. As the vicious Spearow, frantically flapping its wings, swerved in midair and came round for another attack he released a large stream of blue electricity which pinned the Spearow's wings together, stopping it in its tracks. The small bird gave a scream of fury as it came crashing to the ground, claws raking deep grooves in the dirt as it lay twitching from the electricity coursing through its body.

Quick as a flash, Ash pulled out a pokéball and threw it towards his felled opponent. The spearow looked up in contempt, but was unable to do anything about its predicament. The trainer watched with baited breath as tendrils of red light started to creep out of the orb, streaming their way towards the spearow which suddenly began to glow with the same intensity. For a moment the red light became too bright to stand and the spearow was nothing more than a crimson silhouette. As suddenly as it had begun, the process ended, the light becoming a single beam that streamed back into the red and white ball, which snapped shut.

Ash ran and picked the pokéball up, willing it to stay shut. He could feel the ball vibrating slightly, shaking as though the spearow was thrashing around inside, trying to escape. Ash realized that he'd forgotten about his other pokémon in the excitement and quickly ran over to Pikachu to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Good job, Pikachu," said Ash, grinning. "You did really well just then"

Pikachu didn't seem to have heard him. He was staring straight into the darkening sky. Following Pikachu's gaze, Ash turned his attention skyward. High above them several winged, shadowy figures could be seen circling overhead. Their cries were remarkably loud as they screamed to the brooding storm clouds for vengeance.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, pointing to the pokémon above them. At that moment the heavens seemed to open and it began to rain. In the timeframe of just a few seconds the weather changed from a foreboding sky to torrential rainfall, which splashed onto the dirt path, churning the ground as it landed.

"Crap, there are more of them! Keep moving Pikachu!" Ash shouted over the sound of the drumming rain.

The duo did exactly that, not exactly running as they tried to avoid panicking; their movements could not be described as walking either. Their pursuers kept pace with them in the sky, close enough to constantly be able to see them but not close enough to be in range. All of Ash's efforts were in keeping the frenzied pace that he had set as Pikachu scurried alongside him, head down. He hoped that if they continued in this way for long enough, ignoring the small flock of Spearow, then they would eventually lose interest in them and give up. This sort of semi-chase continued for at least twenty minutes before Pikachu and Ash could stand it no longer and broke into a run.

As soon as their prey showed signs of making an escape the birds dropped out of the sky like stones, plummeting towards them. Before they knew it, Ash and Pikachu were practically amongst the flock, a chaotic mess of flapping, scratching, pecking and cawing.

"Pikachu, keep running, but try to pick a few of them off!" Ash yelled, his voice nearly drowned out by the flock's racket. He fumbled for his pokéball. "Spearow, I need you to buy us some time, harass the group a bit to try and slow them, don't get pinned down though."

After the pokéball released the spearow inside of it, it let out a cry as it assessed the situation whilst keeping pace. Satisfied that it knew what it had to do, the pokémon turned and shot off towards the main rank of birds. Rather than attacking them however, it revolved in midair and turned to face Ash and Pikachu, cawing angrily at them and joining the assault. Ash had added to their numbers in his attempt to distract them!

As soon as this happened the group of birds dropped back a few metres, changing from a messy cohort to an organised formation of pokémon. As the leading pokémon led the attack, Pikachu began firing shocks of electricity, firing blindly as he ran. Most of the attacks missed but a 'crack' and a loud 'thud' indicated that one of them had met their mark. A second attack struck home and then a third, as Pikachu gradually began thinning out their ranks.

"Yes!" Ash permitted himself a small smile despite their situation; the chase was starting to go their way. The Spearow shifted closer together, filling the gaps made by the lethal thundershock attacks. All at once, their wings began to glow a ghostly silver and they hesitated, waiting it seemed, for Pikachu's next attack.

'Crash!' they didn't have to wait long. The thundering attack took out another of the spearow, leaving only half of the original group alive. Before their companion even hit the ground, the remaining pokémon retaliated. Their wings flashed suddenly and they released a barrage of thunderbolts identical to Pikachu's. Ash yelped as sparks leapt around his legs, singing his jeans but not seriously hurting him, Pikachu however, was not so lucky. One of the lightning bolts had struck him square on, scorching his face and knocking him to the ground.

It took Ash a few moments to realize that he was running alone, and as he turned back to see what had happened, his heart sank as he saw the spearow crowding round a small pokémon that could only be Pikachu. He'd heard tales of how quickly a Spearow's specialised beak could strip flesh from bone and instantly switched direction, sprinting towards the group of birds surrounding his pokémon, knife brandished in his right hand.

Roaring like an animal, Ash lunged at the nearest bird, stabbing it in the side with his knife. The Spearow tried to take off, scratching Ash's face as it did so, but the enraged trainer was merciless. As the bird rose above head height, Ash grabbed one of its pale, pink legs and hacked at it with his blade, nearly severing the limb. The other three Spearow had by now recovered from the surprise attack and one by one began to dart forward, forcing Ash to release his victim and waiting for a break in his defence. Ash made a sudden feint to the left, buying himself enough time to look down at Pikachu. He didn't look good and Ash could see, just from a quick glance, that he was bleeding; he needed to end this, now.

Ash slashed out once again, the quick slice damaging a Spearow's wing and causing it to fall to the floor, ignoring the blood trickling down his cheek and the claws in his back, Ash concentrated on the fallen spearow which thrashed around for a moment until he stamped down hard on the wretched creature's body, crushing the life out of it. At this, the surviving Spearow began to flee, the injured one trailing slightly behind the other two, the wound clearly causing it a lot of pain. Ash watched them go until he was sure that they weren't coming back, then, without wasting any more time, scooped Pikachu up into his arms and, throwing caution to the wind, ran along the path towards Viridian City.


	4. Killed the Cat

**Yay. I've finally finished Chapter 4. It's a long one, much longer than just one scene. This took quite a while to write, so I hope you like it!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Viridian was a city blemished by its industry. Soot-stained brick walls marked the sides of the street that Ash walked along, Pikachu lying in his arms. The rain had stopped some time ago but the water, mixed with the dirt and whatever other indescribable filth caked the paving stones, turned the road into an ice rink. Great steaming piles of manure, generated by the many Ponyta-drawn carriages that Ash had seen, stood scattered like cairns and streams of dirty rainwater threatened to collapse them. At least this street was well-lit, unlike the countless foreboding alleyways that joined it.

The night air was fairly cold and full of night-time noises, quieter and more menacing than those of the day. A 'thunk' might have been the sound of a foolish drunk collapsing in a heap of dung, or a murderer's knife finding its victim; a sigh could have been the wind, or a hapless sleeper's final breath.

A glass bottle fell and smashed on the cobblestones next to Ash, making him jump in fright. He looked up at the buildings above him, but saw only closed curtains and blinds and so continued, clutching Pikachu to his chest a little tighter. He passed a pub, _The Coiled Ekans, _and paused by the doorway for a moment. The music, hubbub, and general rowdiness within provided a welcome change to the disconcerting hush outside. Ash longingly thought of going in, for a second, then shook his head and turned away. He needed to get Pikachu to a Pokémon Centre as soon as possible.

As the night drew on Ash walked into a dingier neighbourhood. With the darkness came a creeping sense of dread which made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. Eventually he couldn't ignore his paranoia any longer and started turning his head to check behind him. The first time he looked, the street was empty. There was no sign of anyone the second time. However, the third time that Ash, mentally scolding himself, turned to see if he was being followed, he found red eyes looking back at him. He could only see two Rattata, one crouched inside a jar lying on its side and one standing on top of an old crate, but he knew that there had to be more.

Of course, wherever humans lived you could be sure to find Rattata somewhere, especially in a place like this, but Ash hadn't expected them to be a serious threat. The rodents that tailed him seemed pretty threatening though. Ash tried to stop himself from looking back again, but couldn't. He turned and what he saw made his gut clench with anxiety. He was starting to notice more and more of the rat pokémon. They emerged from their gloomy hidey-holes and dark lairs to watch him pass, their muffled squeaking malevolent laughter in Ash's mind. And, although only a few Rattata detached themselves from the comfort of the shadowed sidelines to follow, there were always more observing him, no matter where he went. He needed to find shelter, and quickly.

As Ash turned the corner his prayers were answered, and he was faced with the distinctive red roof and (nearly) white walls that every trainer would instantly associate with safety and salvation. Ash ran up to the double doors, his face a picture of relief. He entered the Pokémon Centre and received a welcoming smile from the young, pink-haired nurse who sat behind the desk. The smile soon froze however, and her eyes widened in shock as she looked behind him. As the nurse got to her feet, Ash turned quickly and saw a line of Rattata running full pelt for the door. Before he could do anything however, somebody else did.

"Charmander, use flamethrower," a deep voice boomed.

The small reptile emerged in a cloud of orange and red. It reacted instantly, a jet of fire leaping from its throat before it had even fully formed. Hot flames lapped around the Rattata as they charged, incinerating the first few, and forcing the rest to back away. As he helped the nurse to pull the doors shut and lock them, Ash turned to see the Charmander's owner.

The man was tall and built like a tree trunk. He wore a long brown coat and looked to be in about his thirties or forties. As he gently stroked his pokémon's scales, Ash caught a glimpse of his scar-covered hands and, when he looked more closely, he saw that similar marks could be seen on his cheek and one side of his neck.

"Had a good look, have you?"

Ash blushed slightly, as the man chuckled heartily. "I-I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to stare." He replied meekly.

The man faked a stern expression for a moment; then his face cracked into a smile. "Nah, I'm only pulling ya leg," He walked over to Ash and offered his hand, which Ash shook. "The name's Callum, Callum Jay. What's your name kid?"

"Ash Ketchum," Ash provided, nursing his crushed fingers. He felt slightly in awe of the man's confidence and size. "Why-"

"Ahem," a shy voice interrupted him. Ash wheeled around and saw that it was the nurse who had spoken. She now looked slightly embarrassed. "Um... I couldn't help but notice that you have an injured Pikachu there. Would you like me to take him for you?"

"Oh man, I nearly forgot!" Ash exclaimed guiltily. He handed Pikachu to the nurse, who quickly began to inspect the unconscious creature. "Do you think he'll be Ok?"

"Hmmm?" muttered the nurse vaguely. Then she seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh! I think so, yes. Pikachu are usually very resistant to electrical moves, so this must have been quite the attack. What pokémon did this?"

"Erm, it was a Spearow," answered Ash sheepishly. "I know it seems odd but it's true."

The nurse seemed bewildered but Callum was nodding. "Yeah, I think that'll be mirror move. It's the Spearow's signature move, copies your pokémon's attack and throws it right back at them. So you should take this to mean that your Pikachu has a very powerful thunderbolt attack, since the copied version damaged it so badly."

"I guess so" replied Ash, not completely sure whether he was meant to sound happy about having a strong pokémon or upset that his pokémon was badly hurt. "So what's going on? Why are the Rattata attacking people? Why are there so many of them?" He looked to Callum for an answer, and, when he just shrugged, to the nurse.

"No-one really knows what's triggered the Rattata attacks," she answered. Then she gestured for him to follow her. "I'm going to find a place to put your pikachu, but if you come with me I'll tell you what I know about how things got like this." Then she turned to Callum "Mr Jay, if you'd like to wait here I'll bring your Machop with me when I return."Callum gave a brief nod and they left the room.

They walked down a long, brightly lit corridor with white walls, a white ceiling and a white tiled floor. Ash was quickly deciding that he didn't like hospitals. They were too clean, too bright, too _white_. They were altogether too different from what he was used to at his mother's makeshift surgery.

As they walked, the nurse introduced herself as Joy and began to talk.

"Viridian's always been quite polluted, we're Kanto's biggest provider of raw materials, so pollution is only natural. We used to send out wagons all over the country to sell goods. Recently though, fewer and fewer carts have been sent out, yet I could swear that the blasted smoke from those factories is worse every day. Everything's been deteriorating, ever since the government disappeared."

They reached the end of the corridor and Joy led Ash through a door and into a small room filled with about a dozen pokémon. They all lay in various beds and in the corner were a pile of old mattresses, presumably to be used once the beds ran out. The injuries were very varied in severity. Some patients were conscious and some were not, some just had a few scratches and some were missing a limb. Joy went over to a surprisingly healthy looking Machop and picked up the pokéball lying on the table next to it.

"That's Callum's pokémon," she explained. "When it first arrived it was badly hurt and had lost a lot of blood. But look at it now, as right as rain," She lifted the Machop's arm up and, when he didn't protest, pointed to a tiny white line that ran from its elbow to its wrist. "See? You can barely even see the scars!"

She seemed to be trying to restore his confidence in their work, though it didn't really have any effect on Ash. He hadn't any reason to expect poor care from the Centre, so if anything it just made him slightly more worried. Besides, he'd picked up on something Joy had said, and wanted to ask her a question.

"What did you mean when you said the government disappeared?"

The nurse put Pikachu down on a small bed and opened a cupboard, pulling out some bandages. "I mean exactly that. The council just vanished into their gym and no-one's seen them since. There have been rumours and sightings but nothing even remotely believable." She picked up a bottle of ethanol, uncapped it, and poured it on the bandages before applying them to Pikachu's wounds.

"You're saying the gym ran the city?" Ash was appalled. "That's not how it's meant to work. The gyms are supposed to protect and support their cities, not control them. I thought that was the whole point!"

"That's just the way it is here. We do a lot of things differently to the other cities."

Ash frowned. "There's one thing I don't get. If no-one's seen the people who are in charge, why has nobody done something? Surely someone else would step up and take over."

Joy sighed, pausing as she gently rubbed some cream onto Pikachu's face."Normally you'd be right, but the truth is, everyone's too scared. The last time there was a rebellion it was violently crushed by the TR, the council's personal police force. That incident was punished pretty harshly so everyone's terrified of what the consequences would be if it happened again. I'd be out there marching up and down myself, but I've got to think of my younger sister. What if they hurt her, as punishment for something that I did? I'd never be able to forgive myself."

Ash raised his eyebrows, surprised. The whole thing seemed pretty corrupt to him, but he felt like he understood the position that the people of Viridian were in. They were a suffering populace but there was really very little anyone could do about it without causing trouble for everyone else. Surely though, with so much strain, it was only a matter of time before someone snapped?

He didn't fully understand what was going on, but he knew that if there was going to be a riot, he did not want to be there when it started. Ash knew that, in the dark, one person looked very much like to another; cops could very easily turn out to be your friends and your friends could turn out to be enemies. In a proper riot, with bricks and burning bottles flying, no-one was truly safe.

* * *

Ash woke suddenly in the night. He blearily rubbed his eyes and reached for the small lamp that sat on the bedside table to his left. He groaned, realizing that he'd still got the slight headache that he'd been stuck with ever since he arrived. Now, three days later, he was hoping that he'd be able to take Pikachu out of the Pokémon Centre. His fumbling hand finally found the lamp and he switched it on, a warm orange glow instantly filling the room.

_The One Eyed Miller_ had proven to be a great choice of accommodation, recommended to him by Joy. The rooms were small, but comfortable, and the meals were good. Ash felt that the cost was remarkably good value. The water tasted slightly odd, but Ash had ordered a glass in a restaurant, just as an experiment, and discovered that this was the same everywhere. He told himself that by now he ought to be getting used to all sorts of things being different here.

In the time that Ash had spent here he'd explored the city a little, buying a couple of extra things that he'd realized, during his journey from Pallet Town, he could do with. He didn't buy much, just a couple of insoles to make his boots fit comfortably and some slightly tastier food, which, he promised himself, he would save for some special occasion. The only major transaction he'd made had been to trade the gold for some more money, which he spent on a basic set of armour: just a light brown set made of toughened fabric, nothing too fancy. It made him feel a lot safer when he'd tried it on, though now it sat on a chair in the corner of the room, the only piece of furniture, apart from the bed, that it contained.

Ash yawned, rolled over, and went back to sleep. He didn't notice the curtains flapping in the wind, which blew through the window that had previously been closed.

* * *

When Ash woke for the second time it was late in the morning. He looked out of the window and saw that the streets were full of people going about their daily business and the noise was tremendous, as it had been every morning that he'd been there. A crowd cheered as a juggling street performer completed a particularly impressive trick and, further away, a merchant was shouting about his ''magnificently miniscule prices''. There were other sounds too, less pleasant and fainter, though not faint enough for Ash to completely ignore. It sounded as though someone was sick, and their horrific coughing made him wince.

Ash found a piece of paper lying on the floor of his room, next to the door, and hurriedly bent to pick it up. He read the writing on it.

_Ash_

_If you want to find out the truth about the rattata then meet me outside the coffee shop by the Pokémon Centre at 21:00 tonight. Don't be late._

_A Friend_

The thought of somebody breaking into his room in the dead of night to leave him this message made him shudder. He was curious though, and although his instincts warned him against it, he eventually decided to follow the instructions that the mysterious ''friend'' had given him. First though, he ought to go and see Pikachu. Breakfast wasn't being served anymore, so Ash grabbed a handful of raisins and nuts from his bag of food, and turned to leave. He glanced around the room once more as he reached the door, then, just to be on the safe side, grabbed his new armour and slipped it on over his jacket. When he got outside, he could no longer hear anyone, so he made his way to the Centre.

* * *

When Joy saw that Ash was dressed as though he were about to go into battle she couldn't stop herself from giggling. She teased him a bit, much to Ash's embarrassment, saying that she thought he looked very "dashing", before taking him to see his pokémon.

Much to his chagrin, Ash hadn't managed to visit at a time when Pikachu was awake. This wasn't hugely surprising, because as pokémon heal they enter a state of recovery, meaning they need to sleep much more often than usual. However, this didn't stop Ash from feeling a bit guilty. To make up for it he had bought Pikachu a packet of cheese, which he knew was his pokémon's favourite treat.

Ash entered the room and nervously wandered over to see Pikachu. He was relieved to see the small yellow pokémon sitting up in his bed, wide awake. When he saw Ash he squeaked happily and Ash quickly ran over and hugged him. Although the nurse had assured him that Pikachu was Ok, it took seeing him with his own eyes before he truly believed her.

He released his pokémon from the embrace and then began to babble. "I'm so sorry! It's all my fault, I should have been more careful, I should have..."

"Pika, pikachu," Pikachu interrupted, shaking his head. If he held a grudge then he certainly didn't show it.

"Thanks Pikachu, you're the best."

Pikachu nodded earnestly, causing Ash to smile and Joy to giggle again.

"Well, if everything's Ok, then you can take Pikachu with you now," she turned to Ash, handing him a form. "If you could just sign this for me, it's just to say what the injuries were and how they were treated. At some point we can send this to other Pokémon Centres, so that they know the medical history of your pokémon. It's quite an ambitious system, but it's proven very effective, if a little slow.

As she spoke, Ash wrote his name on the paper and then handed it to her. Then he turned to the pokémon at his side. "Come on Pikachu. You have _got_ to see the city; it's so different to Pallet Town!"

* * *

It was 20:56. A tall figure in a black coat leant against a wall; he wore a hood, but his scarred face was clearly visible in the light given off by the nearby coffee-bar. He tapped his foot impatiently, and then checked his watch. They still had four minutes, there was no need to worry. He sighed. Hopefully they were going to show, it would make the whole business much simpler and more pleasant if he didn't have to go looking for them again.

Just as this possibility arrived in his mind, a young trainer and his Pikachu appeared from the other side of the shop. The trainer was scanning the street, not sure who, or what, he was looking for. He smiled when he saw the man, and came over.

"Callum, it's you!" Ash exclaimed, relieved to find a person he recognised. "What's up with all this secrecy, why didn't you just tell me whatever it was that you wanted me to know?"

"Sorry about that kid," Callum replied. "I couldn't say it out loud, still can't, I can show you though. You're the sort of person who likes to know the full story right? You don't like things to be kept, or hidden from you?"

"I-I guess so," Ash was unsure.

"Well in that case, come with me. It's quite a trek, so we should probably get a move on, eh? Don't want another colony to try and take a bite out of us."

The small group, led by Callum, walked for about half an hour. In that time, they had travelled many blocks away from their starting point. It was quiet here, and at this time, the streets were empty. Callum came to a halt and Ash nearly walked right into him, only just looking up in time to see that he'd stopped.

"We're here. Now, if you really want to find out what's happening in Viridian, we're going to have to go in there." As he said this, he pointed downwards, towards a sewer grate. He produced a small spanner and removed the bolts that held the grate in place. Then, his surging muscles straining, he started to prise it open.

Ash peered dubiously into the subterranean gloom, a white shimmer marked the position of the sludgy water, about six feet below him, and he could see a rusty ladder leading down onto a brick platform. He turned to see Callum sitting behind him.

"I'm really not sure about th-"

But, as it turned out, Ash didn't have a choice. He felt a sharp pain as Callum's boot struck him in the back. He twisted as he fell, and reached for a handhold, but it was futile; he had already fallen too far. His scream was cut short when he landed and the wind was knocked out of him, but he had landed on something soft. He really didn't want to know what it was.

Ash looked up into the small patch of sky that was visible to him, which lit up suddenly, as the air above crackled with electricity. The sparks died quickly, however, and shortly afterwards a small shape tumbled down after him. Pikachu's fall was broken by Ash, who quickly reached out for his pokémon, pulling him close. Just then Callum's face appeared overhead, framed, like a portrait, in a rectangle of light. His voice called into the dark, bouncing off the cylindrical walls of the sewer.

"Sorry kid, but you were too curious for your own good. We can't be dealing with inquisitive people like you snooping around and asking difficult questions. If I were you I'd throw myself to a group of Rattata before a tosher found me. Then again, it'll be a quick death either way, so perhaps you don't have to worry. Don't think that I enjoy doing this, I really don't. Just one of the few disadvantages to a job with many perks."

As Callum pulled the grate back over and reattached it, Ash and Pikachu heard him muttering to himself about how tiresome it was, having to kill people all of the time, then the patter of footsteps indicated that he was leaving.

* * *

**oooh plot-twist... Well, kind of. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, I've got a much better plan for what I want to happen in this next one, so I'll be able to see if that makes a noticeable difference to my writing. Also, have you worked out what I'm doing with the chapter titles?**

**P.S Please leave a comment. If you don't DEMONS WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOOOUUUL!**

**P.P.S Ok, so that might have been a lie... But you should probably give me some feedback anyway, just to be on the safe side.**


	5. The Enemy of my Enemy

**It's the next chapter. I'm actually quite fond of this one. Please enjoy:**

Ash sat on the damp stone floor with his head in his hands, feeling contempt for himself. How could Professor Oak have thought that he was ready for this? Ever since he'd left home, he'd done nothing but make stupid mistakes. Now he was stuck down here, doomed to be eaten or worse.

Pikachu nudged his trainer, forcing him to cease his self-piteous daydreaming, and focus on what was happening now, not what he had done in the past.

Not normally being one to take defeat so easily, Ash eventually pulled himself together. There had to be a way out somewhere. All they had to do was find a grate that wasn't attached properly, and they'd be away from of this place.

Now that Ash had a proper objective, he was determined to see it through. The sewers were dingy and forbidding, and Ash knew that if there was one place that was likely to be home to Rattata, this was it. He gave Pikachu the command to use flash, to light up their surroundings, deciding that what they lost in stealth would be more than made up for by being able to see what was coming at them. They followed the tunnel around a bend, and, dead ahead, found three pokémon locked in battle.

Ash instantly recognised one of them as a Rattata, but the other two he found more difficult to place. One was a light blue colour, and he realized that this was a female Nidoran. The other was brown and stood on its hind legs. The combatants were thrown apart for a moment, and Ash saw that it was a Raticate, a much more powerful rat pokémon.

Ash and Pikachu were unsure what to do, eventually deciding to see how the battle panned out before intervening. The Raticate and Rattata at first seemed to be working together to defeat the Nidoran, but that quickly changed as the Raticate suddenly turned on its younger form, biting it hard in the neck. Pikachu winced slightly, as teeth that were capable of gnawing away boulders splintered bones and reduced the Rattata to a bleeding, contorted mess.

The Nidoran was not perturbed by the Raticate's strength. Small spiny hairs on its back and legs stood on end, and were then released, peppering the Raticate with poisonous needles which punctured its skin. This wasn't enough to bring it down however, and it leapt onto the Nidoran, clawing at its head and face.

Ash, not being particularly fond of rat pokémon at that time, realized that if he was going to try and save the Nidoran, he needed to act now. He nodded to Pikachu, whose cheeks, already sparking with electricity to create light for them to see by, glowed brightly for a moment. Then his whole body convulsed and crackled with electrical energy, which he released through his tail in the form of a powerful thunderbolt. The bolt struck the Raticate, sending it spinning through the air and crashing against a wall.

Astonishingly, the pokémon managed to cling on to life. It stood shakily and glared at them, still unwilling to surrender. Ash wavered, uncertain whether to finish it off or not, but that decision had already been made. The Nidoran, cowering by the walls of the sewer, released a second volley of spikes, turning its aggressor into a small brown pincushion.

Ash looked at the Nidoran, which still appeared terrified, though whether it was frightened of them, or still shaken from the lucky escape it had just had was unclear. Cautiously, with the palms of his hand facing outwards, Ash reached for it. It flinched when he made contact, but showed no signs of running. Encouraged by the Nidoran's lack of protest, Ash gently stroked its fur, careful not to brush the hard bristles the wrong way and risk piercing his skin and poisoning himself.

Ash could feel the creature's pulsing heartbeat, much faster than his own. He made soothing noises with his tongue, scratching the Nidoran's neck, and the pokémon began to purr, a deep vibrating sound which made its whole body shake. Ash slowly produced a pokéball, making sure that the Nidoran saw it and accepted him, before activating it. As the pokéball closed, sealing his new pokémon within, Ash released a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The whole process had felt surreal.

He looked at the pokéball, grinning in ecstasy "I did it! I caught my first pokémon."

Pikachu smiled slightly, not seeming to share his trainer's happiness.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash anxiously asked, "This is brilliant, right? What are you so upset about?"

Pikachu sighed and shrugged, he looked utterly miserable. "Chu," he muttered.

Ash wasn't going to be so easily brushed aside, however. He crouched, grabbed Pikachu by his shoulders, and spun the pokémon around to face him. "Look at me Pikachu. I want you to understand this. Catching another pokémon isn't going to make me care for you any less. I'm not going to treat you any differently just because I've caught a Nidoran, you see? You can't expect me not to catch any other pokémon. We're going to need all the help we can get if we're to make it to Cerulean, and after that...Well after that we're somehow expected to catch every pokémon out there."

Pikachu nodded slowly, cheered by Ash's words and beginning to understand his logic. He realized that he was being selfish and promised himself that he would do all he could to make this new addition to their team feel welcome.

They set off again and Ash, seeing that Pikachu was in a better temper, thought about bringing Nidoran out. He could check that she was alright, and more firmly establish her place with them. Ash was pleased to have caught a pokémon that he knew a little bit about, remembering a page dedicated to the species in one of Oak's field guides.

Casually he reached for his belt and picked up the pokéball which sat there. He released Nidoran, and let her walk behind him with Pikachu. He tried to pretend that how they behaved towards each other wasn't of concern to him, but occasionally he looked back to see how they were acting. When he did, he was pleasantly surprised to find Pikachu being amicable to Nidoran, and the two chattering away happily.

Nidoran's ears and nose twitched periodically as they walked, and Ash recalled that the female of the species, whilst being not as popular as the male due to the less potent poison that they possessed, had possibly the most acute senses of any pokémon in the region. As this thought came to him, he wondered if it would be worth telling Pikachu to deactivate his flash ability, relying just on Nidoran's nose to guide them. Then again, how well could her sense of smell function down here, where the stench of human muck was overpowering and engulfing, even to him?

They came to a lighter area of the sewer and Ash saw a ladder set into the wall. The sky was still dark, but Ash had lost all sense of time as soon as he'd walked away from that first grate. Ash darted up the ladder, leaving Pikachu and Nidoran below. He reached up for the metal bars of the grate, hardly daring to hope that this might be a chance to escape.

It wasn't.

With a heaving sigh he looked down to the two pokémon and shook his head. Then he descended back down the ladder to the stone floor. He didn't say anything to Pikachu; he didn't need to. They each felt the other's disappointment.

Left with no choice but to wander aimlessly until they came to another ladder, Ash's spirits were sinking once more. Suddenly, he felt something hard and sharp press against his neck.

"Stop," came a voice, cold and demanding.

Ash did so, panicking inwardly, "Wha-urk."

The blade pressed harder, forcing him to stay quiet. "You can speak when I say you can speak, understand? Now, I want you to recall your pokémon."

Silently Ash returned Nidoran to her pokéball. He looked at Pikachu, who grimaced and nodded. He raised his sixth pokéball, the one that was technically Pikachu's, and for the first time in years the electric pokémon was confined to its small spherical prison.

"Good. Now then, I'm curious. What business have you down here in the sewers? And what's your name?"

When Ash didn't answer the person behind him sighed. "You can speak now, but keep it brief. That way you won't have room for fabrications and exaggerations."

Ash nodded, or would have done had it not been for the knife at such close proximity. "I'm Ash. I was thrown down here by a man, Callum, for asking too many questions."

"Callum you say? Well, Ash, I don't suppose you can remember this 'Callum's' full name can you?"

Ash racked his brains, sensing an opportunity for an easy way out of this situation. Finally he gave up. "Sorry no, I really cannot."

"Are you sure? That's a real shame. I suppose it proves you're not one of them, here to catch me out." The voice, still grating, continued. "Well, since you've been so cooperative, I think you deserve a hint. Did it begin with a 'J'?"

"Jay!" exclaimed Ash. "That was it, Jay."

"Hmm... So you're an enemy of Callum Jay's. Well, people say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But then again, _people _say a lot of things and you can get into a lot of trouble following advice that _people _give you."

The person sounded bitter and angry, almost spitting the word people, Ash was all too conscious of the dangers of being held at knifepoint by someone bad-tempered. The knife was pressed slightly less harshly now, and he dared to speak.

"Who are you?" he muttered, careful not to incur his captor's wrath.

"Who am _I_? What are you expecting, a _name_?" The voice was almost playful now, in a mocking sort of way. "I suppose I'm many things. For now all you need to know is that I'm a tosher."

Ash gulped. "I-I've heard about them."

"Bet you have! From a reliable source, I suppose?"

"Well..."

"Hah! Thought not"

"Okay then," Ash said slowly. "In that case, what is a tosher? What does it mean?"

To Ash's surprise he was spun around, and came face to shadowed face with a most unusual figure.

The first thing that struck Ash as strange were the clothes that the man wore. He was dressed in a hooded and tattered cloak, which had perhaps once been white. The second thing Ash noticed was how short the person was, shorter than him. This man couldn't be much older than he was, more of a boy really. The hood of the cloak was too large for him, completely obscuring his features.

"It means," the boy said in his strange voice, far less fearsome now that Ash could see his lips moving. "It means I'm a hider, and a finder. That I know the dark, hidden places, and the places to hide. It means that I know these sewers like the back of my hand and more importantly it means that I'm your only hope of getting out of here." The boy smirked and, to Ash's relief, put away his knife.

Ash looked at him dubiously. He knew that it wasn't going to be so easy. "Well, since you know what I want, why don't you tell me what it is you're after?"

"Clever, very clever. Well you're right, there is a catch, something I want. I'm going to lead you to a way out and afterwards you're going to do me a little favour."

"What kind of favour?" asked Ash, uncertain.

"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing too difficult. It's a matter of revenge. You see," he hesitated. "There's this group, they call themselves Team Rocket. I've made it my job to cause as much trouble for them as I possibly can. They're tough though, so I could use another trainer to watch my back."

The boy beckoned for Ash to follow him, and he allowed himself to be led down the dark tunnels. As they walked, Ash realized something.

"Team Rocket? Weren't they the police or something?"

The boy answered, but didn't look round. "Sure, some people called them that, back when they appeared in public. It's all lies though; they're no more of a bloody police force than you or I. They're bad people, y'know that Callum? He's one of the nicest of the group. They're a bunch of vicious thugs led by malicious killers. They're hired to scare people into obedience."

The fury that Ash had heard traces of earlier was back, red and raw, as though this person had suffered a great injustice at the hands of the universe. He wasn't sure that he could rely on this boy, wasn't even sure that he was mentally stable.

The hooded person turned suddenly, angry eyes inspecting Ash. "You can stop looking at me like that. I'm not just some stupid sewer scum, you hear me? I went to a good school, so don't start acting like you're better than me."

Ash started to protest that he had done no such thing, but was suddenly grabbed and wrenched backwards into a small alcove, the boy's hands holding him like pincers. Ash struggled, trying to pull himself free, but stopped when he saw the boy reaching for his knife again.

"Shut up, you fucking idiot," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Ash obeyed, leaning back against the boy, who slowly released him. He opened his mouth to speak, but a hand was clamped over it.

"Shh," the boy whispered, silencing him.

At that moment Ash heard the sound that he had missed previously, the patter of tiny damp feet. The noise grew louder and louder before, with a rush, a great swarm of Rattata scampered past, the nearest less than a foot away from the two trainers in their hidey-hole. It was over in the blink of an eye, but Ash knew that if part of the wall hadn't collapsed to create the hidden space that they occupied, they'd both be dead.

"You saved my life," Ash said breathlessly when the Rattata had passed.

"Yep," the boy muttered. "Just don't start getting used to it."

But Ash was already bounding away in the direction that the Rattata had gone. "Come on," he shouted back.

The boy sighed, walking towards him. "There's no point, Ash, it's just a dead-end that way."

Ash looked back, grinning, a gleam in his eyes. "A dead-end huh? Then where are they going?" He pointed to the disappearing Rattata swarm.

They followed the tunnel cautiously for another minute before they reached a brick wall.

"See? Just like I said, this tunnel doesn't lead anywhere. Now come on, we're wasting our time."

"Hold on," Ash murmured, slightly disappointed. He had felt like they were close to discovering something, to solving some great mystery.

He looked at the moss-covered wall in front of him and then reached out to touch it, feeling the clammy cold stone and the damp slime that coated it. Or at least, that's what he would have felt.

Instead his hand passed right through it.

**See you next time everybody!**


	6. A Book by its Cover

Ash recoiled at the sight of his own arm, which now ended at a stump where his hand should have been, and was relieved to see it emerge from inside the wall when he retracted it. He heard the boy approaching behind him, coming to find out why he wasn't following. Without saying anything, he demonstrated by plunging his arm once more into the empty nothingness that should have been a wall.

Ash couldn't see the boy's eyes properly, but he felt sure that he had his eyebrows raised. "A magic wall, huh? Well, that's new."

Ash couldn't help but feel that "new" was a bit of an understatement. He still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

The boy was at his side now, running his fingers up and down against its ethereal surface. "I wonder what's on the other side."

"Only one way to find out," Ash took a deep breath, and stepped into the wall.

The room was hexagonal in shape. It was dimly lit by flickering lamps set into the walls, but still lighter than the sewers had been. On the opposite side of the room there lay a huge piece of machinery. It had the appearance of a cage, but the bars didn't look like they were made of metal.

In other circumstances Ash's first move would have been to more closely examine the cage, but right now, he didn't have time for that, and instead he reached for a pokéball. The room he now stood in was absolutely teeming with Rattata.

Nidoran and Pikachu appeared together in twin flashes of red. Ash saw that Pikachu was looking slightly pale from being trapped in such a small space for so long, and he felt a pang of guilt. He really should have let his pokémon back out earlier.

"Oh," the boy stepped through the wall, appearing beside Ash and surveying the scene in front of them. "Well, that's not good."

Pikachu turned to face the boy and growled, electricity crackling from his cheeks. Luckily, Ash was quick to intervene.

"Pikachu, no! He's helping us."

Pikachu frowned but didn't question his trainer's words. Besides, right now there were more pressing matters to be dealt with, namely the hundreds of rats that were slowly prowling towards them. Nidoran and Pikachu launched their attacks, poison barbs and bolts of electricity zipping across the room. Meanwhile the boy had produced two pokéballs from somewhere on the inside of his cloak and was releasing their occupants.

A large, cream-furred canine with wild bushy tails appeared, a Ninetales. On command, it breathed hot billowing flames across the room. The flames swept over the stone floor, momentarily forming a barrier which served to protect the trainers from the ever advancing Rattata. Without warning, it nimbly darted forwards and seized one of the purple rats, snapping it up in its jaws then leaping back again, before the others could latch on and overwhelm it.

By its side formed a reptilian creature, pale yellow in colour with tiny, knobbly scales covering its body. Protruding from the top of its head was a strange leafy growth in the shape of a scythe. This scythe revolved slightly as the creature twisted its head backwards. Then, with a loud bellow, it threw its head to the side.

The momentum of this action somehow detached the blade. The razor sharp leaf flew whistling across the room and plunged into the body of a Rattata, which wheezed as it suddenly found itself without properly functioning lungs. Ash was surprised to see a new projectile already sprouting, growing so fast that the process was visible.

The rats died quickly, but there were always more steadily advancing, calm, taking their time. Some managed to creep around the intruders, cutting off any chance of escape. An escape that Ash was quickly realizing would have been the better option. They scrambled over the brickwork and their fallen kin, getting nearer and nearer with each passing second.

The boy spoke and, for the first time, there was no self-assuredness in his speech, no trace of sarcasm or bravado. "This isn't right." Something similar to fear had worked its way into his gravelly voice.

Ash, concentrating hard on focusing his pokémon's actions, looked up sharply at the sound of someone talking. "What do you mean?" He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the battle raging in front of him.

"I mean, this isn't how Rattata act." The boy had to yell to be heard over the cacophony of pokémon fighting. "They don't slowly surround you; they run at you as fast as they can or they run the other way. Rattata don't have tactics and they don't think. These Rattata should have turned and fled as soon as your Pikachu let off its first bolt!"

Ash only vaguely heard this, however. He was transfixed by something strange in the middle of the Rattata. For within that writhing mass of small indigo bodies, there was some anomaly, something that didn't quite fit the trend. It took Ash a second or two to work out what it was.

All of the Rattata were facing them. If Ash had been able to freeze the scene he would have been able to identify the number of foes by counting each pair of blood red eyes. However, in the very centre of the horde, the pattern was broken. For some reason all the Rattata in one small circle of the room sat in a star shape, each facing outwards.

As he became aware of this, shadowy dark tendrils of smoke began to creep up from the floor around the Rattata. The noise, the sound of flames, lightning and a whole array of other pokémon attacks, which currently sounded like the air ripping itself apart, suddenly faded. The sound was still there but it seemed far off, distant and unimportant compared to what he was witnessing.

* * *

The room and everyone in it melted away leaving Ash completely alone in a strange, alien blackness. A sound made him look up. Perhaps he was not alone after all.

He spotted the group of Rattata that he'd noticed just a moment ago, now positioned only a foot away from him. Looking more closely he saw that they were somehow joined at the tail, though whether this was some freak accident of nature or created for some human purpose he was not sure. He found the sight of their knotted tails grotesque, but for some reason it also filled him with an unnatural dread and he stumbled backwards, heart racing.

In his panic he yelled at the creature. "What are you?"

He hadn't been expecting a reply, but one came nonetheless, hissing words forcing their way into his brain and somehow bypassing his ears. He wasn't actually hearing sounds. The way this creature was communicating with him felt far more sinister.

_Usss?_

As the creature spoke to Ash he yelped as a white hot pain filled his head with fire.

_ We are the thoughtss of the Rattata. We control what they do and see what they see._

He groaned and sank to his knees, clutching his head. What was happening?

_We are all the fear and the spite of a rat with a brain to guide and direct it. We are instinct and order rolled into one. _

His mouth opened in a silent scream as he struggled to cope with the new levels of agony washing over him.

_Wherever you go our eyes and earss can follow. You can never escape from usss; we can see everything, go anywhere. We are the ears in the walls and the noises under the floor._

Black speckles swam across his vision, and he wanted nothing more but to close his eyes, but he knew that he had to stay conscious, knew that if he blacked out it would be all over. Feverishly he fumbled for his knife. Shaking, he forced himself to stand.

_We are the biting scratching tooth and claw. We are the Rat King._

With an inhuman gargling scream, like some wild animal in pain, Ash sprang at the creature tormenting him and stabbed violently downwards with his knife. He felt satisfaction as his knife sliced through the tails, blood spurting from where he had severed the link between them. The Rattata sprang away from each other.

_How? How?_

The voice was faint now. It sounded confused and lost. Ash heard it split into several discordant tones as it died away. He lay on the dark spongy ground panting, and getting to his feet, suddenly found himself standing on hard stone in the hexagonal room once more.

* * *

The Rattata were inches away, some already climbing on the Ninetales, whose fur was matted with blood in places. The boy was ineffectively fighting them off with his knife, desperately slashing out at them. However, something had changed.

The Rattata were no longer advancing. The leading pokémon looked around at the carnage, turned, and ran. Fear spread across the group of Rattata like wildfire. They no longer had thoughts, could no longer control their instincts. At that moment those freed instincts were telling them, very clearly, to flee.

Ash and the boy watched, hardly able to believe their luck, as the Rattata scattered, running through walls that had previously seemed solid, much like the one they'd entered through. In half a minute, the room was empty again. Ash saw that the boy was bleeding from a cut on his arm and ran over to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," the boy snapped. "What did you do to them?"

Ash struggled to understand what he was talking about, then realized that he was referring to the Rattata's disappearance. "I'm not honestly sure; there was this thing..." he tailed off. "Why? What did it look like I did?"

"You just went blank and stood there like a statue. I tried to get you moving again but I was a bit preoccupied with, _y'know_, fighting off the massive hordes of angry rat pokémon. Then as soon as the Rattata got to you they just all stopped and turned back." He paused. "I'm assuming something else was going on, something that I couldn't see."

"Yeah, um," Ash began. He wasn't sure whether or not to be glad that the boy's sarcastic manner had returned.

"Save it for later. For now we need to work out what this place is, and then leave as quickly as possuble. Look," he pointed to the corner of the room, where a small metal object hung. "There are cameras in here, which means that someone's going to be down here soon. Now I don't know about you, but I personally don't plan on being around when they arrive."

Ash nodded, quickly crossing the room, flanked by Pikachu and Nidoran, to the cage-like device he'd spotted earlier. Now he was less rushed, he spotted what was odd about it. The bars of the cage were indeed not made of metal; instead it looked as though they were formed by electricity. The whole thing seemed to be connected to some sort of machine. What's more, the cage was completely empty.

"Why would anyone have such a high-tech piece of equipment running, if there was nothing inside it?" Ash wondered aloud.

"Hmmm, that is strange. I wonder if- Aah!"

The boy yelped as sparks suddenly flew from the bars in front of him, showering him with hot prickles of electricity. Ash couldn't help but give a smile at his companion's ridiculous outburst, which the glare that the boy gave him only served to widen.

"Maybe there's something in there after all. It could be a ghost pokémon perhaps?" Ash had never encountered a ghost before, but knew that some possessed the ability to become invisible.

The boy considered the idea for a moment before dismissing it. "No, it can't be a ghost. Normally Ninetales can sense them before they even get close. Now then, I wonder if someone would mind if we switched this thing off for a second."

To his right, several wires jutted out of small holes in the top of the machine. Wrapping the fabric of his cloak around his hand several times, he reached for the wires, grabbing hold of them and then tugging hard, before Ash had time to say anything.

Instantly, whatever had been powering the bars of the cage shut off, and seconds later Ash felt the peculiar sensation of fur brushing against his face, though he couldn't see anything that could have caused it. He was distracted from this mystery by a siren which filled the room with its unnatural whine. Ash could hear a second siren, almost drowned out by the first, coming from somewhere in front of him.

Looking ahead, Ash realized that where a wall had been previously, there was now a staircase. Looking around he saw that this was not actually a room, but more accurately a five-way junction.

He only just had time to notice a pair of boots running down the staircase before someone grabbed his wrist and dragged him from the room. As both Ash and the boy started to run, they each risked a quick glance behind them, just long enough to see a man dressed entirely in black with a large red 'R' emblem splashed across his chest enter the room they'd previously occupied.

The man saw them, and set off in pursuit. But the two trainers were faster, and Ash found himself being led down dozens of winding cylindrical corridors, junctions passing by on either side so quickly that he was left with no sense of direction.

Finally the boy came to a halt. As Ash, breathing heavily, began to ask him why they'd stopped, he bent down, quickly picking up something and pocketing it. Ash hadn't had time to identify the object, but he'd seen that it caught the light (what little of that there was) and was clearly shiny. As the boy set off again Ash couldn't contain his curiosity.

"What _was _that?" he questioned.

"You mean this?" he replied with a grin, pulling out a small ring with a shimmering blue gemstone set into it. "You'd be amazed how easily rich folks find it to accidentally drop precious things like these."He looked at the ring more carefully. "A particularly fine specimen this one," he said.

"How did you spot that so quickly?" Ash had gone from curiosity to fascination.

"Two years of experience," he grinned. "That's what we toshers do, y'see? We find things that other people lose. There misfortune makes our fortune." He smiled at his own play on words.

"So I take it Callum was lying about you being vicious murderers then?" said Ash, smiling also.

"Yes, exactly Ash. Well... mostly." He smiled again after seeing the way Ash's expression changed after he'd said 'mostly'. "We like to give the impression that we're a blood-thirsty bunch of cut-throats, it keeps Team Rocket from trying to bother us too much."

Ash hesitated for a moment, both his speech and his dialogue coming to a halt. He looked as though he was working up the courage to say something.

The boy turned round and again Ash got the impression that he had his eyebrows raised. "Yes? What is it?"

"Well, it seems so strange you referring to me by name all the time when I don't even _know_ yours."

"Oh, is that it? You just wanted to know my name? Silly of me really, I meant to tell you earlier. I'm Alice."_She_ (definitely _she)_ smiled a secret little smile to herself as Ash stood with his mouth open, taken completely off-guard.

* * *

**I may have taken a bit of inspiration from a famous author named Terry... I wonder if anyone caught on to that?**


End file.
